Reading a book is a very intimate process. One immerses oneself in a world that has its own framework, its own structure and emotional depth. While engaging with the plot and the characters, one becomes absorbed – almost unconsciously – in one’s inner world and reflects on one’s own thoughts. My aim in creating the musical programme was to transform this reflection into a musical structure that mirrors my reading of Dimitré Dinev’s book *Zeit der Mutigen*.
In order not to interrupt the melody of the text or interfere with the completeness of the subject matter, I created four sections that form a wave-like structure. The text flows between them like a river (like the Danube). In this way, the two components – word and sound – merge on stage, giving rise to a unique body of sound.
To create the four parts of the programme, I used recurring leitmotifs from the book, each of which carries its own musical line. One example is the leitmotif of the fire that must never be extinguished, ‘so that those who have lost their way in the darkness may find their way to another human being’ (p. 206), ‘which promised protection to anyone who had lost their way’. From a musical perspective, it is reminiscent of a theme with variations. For this, I used the main theme from Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor and created my own piano arrangement of it. On one occasion, Schubert’s symbolically significant theme ‘Death and the Maiden’, which also appears in his song of the same name to a text by Goethe, is heard as a theme with two variations, and on another occasion simply as a theme and coda (beginning–end).
I found another significant source of inspiration in the combination of letters SCH, which appears in the recurring motif ‘Schweiß, Schmerz und Schlaf’ (sweat, pain and sleep). To reflect these letters, I used Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues. Together with the first letter of his first name (Dmitry), this forms the famous DSCH motif, one of the best-known cryptograms in music history, through which the composer Dmitry Shostakovich immortalised himself. He had to compose some of his Preludes and Fugues in secret and, despite being condemned by the Party, succeeded in composing one of the most important piano cycles of the 20th century. In conjunction with Bach’s *The Well-Tempered Clavier*, written 200 years earlier, these works form an uninterrupted musical line that transcends the boundaries of time.
I also found a beautiful musical and literary connection between the leitmotif of the Czech song (quote: ‘which made all the things he loved seem closer’ or ‘so that the young soul would not be afraid of this world’) and Janáček’s piano piece *In the Mists*. The Czech song in the book often serves as an oasis of calm, a refuge from fate and a way of expressing the inner voice without fully understanding the words. In his composition, Janáček creates a musical structure consisting of four parts and, through his versatility, gives shape to the so-called ‘polyphony of emotions’ (Milan Kundera, University of Miami). A term that could also be applied to the book.
For the conclusion of the programme, I chose Balakirev’s *Islamey*. For a long time, it was considered one of the most demanding works in the piano repertoire. With its extreme emotions and technical challenges, the piece represents a symbolic culmination of emotions. It is my personal interpretation of liberation from oppression, which frequently appears in the book’s subject matter – for example, in relation to fate or the political regime.
Dimitré Dinev’s book has deeply moved and inspired me. In its completeness, I sought ways to transform recurring leitmotifs, musical and literary ideas, and sometimes even letters into a musical structure. Through this symbiosis of word and sound, an independent work of art emerges on stage, allowing listeners to engage in their own reflection in the here and now.

In her latest programme, Encore!, Dora Deliyska considers the encore not only as the conclusion of a concert, but also as a transition between the performance and the silence that follows.
The pieces are arranged in an order that creates a musical structure consisting of three parts. The first part consists of four works by Schubert, whose keys form a diminished seventh chord.
The second part forms an island of calm with works by Arvo Pärt and Johann Sebastian Bach. In the many passages with different pianissimo nuances, the piano is experienced not only as a keyboard instrument, but also as a sound box capable of producing an incredible range of acoustic colours.
The third part of the programme unfolds the concept of romantic and virtuoso encores. Emotional highlights such as Liszt’s Liebestraum and Kreisler/Rachmaninov’s Liebesleid alternate. Finally, spirited pieces by Fazil Say bring the concert to a brilliant conclusion.
The encore arises in the space between sound and silence. It is the moment when the concert has ended and emotions have reached their peak. But then another piece begins to play – uncertain, unexpected, surprising! It is precisely this uncertainty that gives the encore its special power: it can abruptly steer the emotions of the concert evening in opposite directions and either continue what has been presented so far or create a strong contrast.
The encore is the last word, the final message that the musicians give to the audience.

The video piece “Pulsations” is based on the étude “Fanfares” by Ligeti. Dora Deliyska, Axel Stockburger and Kai Maier-Rothe created and filmed this piece 2018 in the Bösendorfer piano factory in Austria using 8 Bösendorfer grand pianos. The concept is based on the rhythmic structure of the piece and how it transposed into a spatial arrangement of the different pianos. Credits: Dora Deliyska: Piano based on György Ligeti – Études 4: Fanfares (1985) Kai Maier-Rothe & Axel Stockburger: concept, sound, camera, postproduction funded by Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Kunst kindly supported by Bösendorfer Pianos More about the concept: Initially, Ligeti’s specific approach to the enormous complexity of African Polyrhythms drew us towards this musical piece. He wrote, “a completely different metric ambiguity occurs in African music. Here there are no measures in the European sense, but instead two rhythmic levels: a ground layer of fast, even pulsations, which are not counted as such but rather felt, and a superimposed, upper layer of occasionally symmetrical, but more often asymmetrical patterns of varying length”. In: Arom, Simha (1991) African polyphony and polyrhythm: Musical structure and methodology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK.